Magic

Magic
Basic Information
Type	Applied Practice
Related	Mana, Manology, Magic Circuit, Mage, Arcane Academy, Central Mana Authority

1. Overview

Magic is the practice of manipulating and transforming existing matter and energy through mana. It is not an act of creation from nothing, but a process of converting what already exists into a different state. This transformative character is the defining nature of magic.

Anyone who practices magic must possess a magic circuit within their body. Possession of a circuit is randomly distributed at the level of the individual, without correlation to species. Only those who possess one are capable of handling mana.

2. The Magic Circuit

A magic circuit is not a physical diagram but a structure of pure imagination, fully rendered within the practitioner's mind. A practitioner must achieve complete understanding of the structure of the effect they intend to produce before the circuit can be completed; an incomplete circuit does not activate.

This understanding is binary in nature. A caster who understands only part of a given structure does not produce a weakened version of the intended effect — incomplete understanding simply yields a different, flawed circuit. The notion of a "partially successful" casting does not exist.

Identical circuits supplied with identical mana invariably produce identical outcomes. Magic is governed by complete determinism.

3. Arcane Magic

Arcane Magic refers to the most fundamental form of magic: the projection of raw, unconverted mana, belonging to none of the eight established forms of energy conversion.

Each of the eight conversion forms is the product of a carefully designed circuit that shapes mana into a specific output — heat, kinetic force, and so on. Arcane Magic, by contrast, undergoes no such shaping; it is mana itself, pushed or projected in its unaltered state. It carries no particular thermal, cryogenic, or precise character, yet because mana itself possesses mass and density as a substance, contact with a target produces a physical impact. This impact does not arise from kinetic conversion — it is simply the consequence of a massed substance striking something.

Arcane Magic is regarded as the practical point of origin common to every magic circuit; the eight conversion forms are understood as specialized derivations branching outward from this unconverted state. For this reason, Arcane Magic functions both as the most elementary threshold through which a practitioner first develops a working sense of circuitry, and as a complete, independently viable technique in its own right — a form of physical impact that carries none of the secondary effects (burns, frostbite, and the like) associated with the elemental conversions.

4. Origins of Magical Tradition

Every magical tradition practiced in the world today descends from a single point of origin.

Long before the founding of the Yalta Empire, an ancient body of scholars devoted itself to the study of the fundamental laws governing mana. The principles this body established became the absolute foundation shared without exception by every tradition that would later branch from it — among them, the dual states of mana, the eightfold system of energy conversion, complete determinism, and the two-stage structure of mana runaway and Mana Critical Incidents.

Three traditions descending from this common origin persist to the present day.

Circuit-based magic (the Western orthodox tradition) is regarded as the direct successor of the original body. The Arcane Academy serves as its central institution, tentatively dated to its founding in the 300s IY (the exact year remains unconfirmed). Roughly seventy percent of the world's mana-sensitive population practices within this tradition, making it the dominant form of magic in practice.

Eastern Sorcery developed independently within the cultural sphere of the Aisa continent, having branched from the common origin at an early stage.

Witchcraft likewise branched from the common origin, developing through informal, tradition-based transmission rather than institutional study.

All three traditions share the same fundamental laws described above without exception, yet the manner, efficiency, and style with which each tradition applies those laws differ fundamentally. No tradition holds inherent superiority or greater legitimacy over another — the dominance of circuit-based magic reflects only its far greater scale of practice.

5. Spell and Craft

Independent of tradition, magic is further classified along an axis defined by formal recognition.

A Spell is a standardized magical effect that has been formally verified and certified by a recognized institution, guaranteeing reproducible results regardless of who performs it.

A Craft is a magical effect that has not undergone such formal verification — typically transmitted through personal experience or informal lineage within a given tradition.

This distinction exists independently within each of the three traditions. Witchcraft may include effects formally certified as Spells, just as circuit-based magic may include Crafts practiced outside institutional recognition. Tradition (the manner in which magic is practiced) and certification status (whether it has been formally verified) constitute two wholly independent axes of classification.

6. Governing Institutions

Overall jurisdiction over matters of mana and magic rests with the Central Mana Authority, a supreme integrated body established in the aftermath of the Mana Cataclysm, born of the recognition that mana and magic could no longer be entrusted to a single academic institution alone. Its subordinate bodies include the Arcane Academy (research and education), the Mana Safety Bureau (safety oversight), the Arcane Registry Office (formal certification), and the Office of Mana Law and Ethics (legal and ethical oversight). The detailed role and structure of each body is addressed in its own dedicated entry.

7. Tiers of Difficulty

The difficulty of a given piece of magic is determined by the depth of branching within the circuit that constitutes it — the number of nested decision points the structure contains. Each additional layer of branching doubles the number of possible configurations the circuit may resolve into.

This measure of difficulty belongs to no single tradition but to the fundamental laws shared by all three. The degree of branching complexity is measured identically regardless of tradition; what differs from tradition to tradition is how efficiently and stably that complexity is processed in practice.

A theoretical maximum tier of difficulty is understood to exist, but it is believed to exceed the practical limits of casting altogether — no case of a practitioner reaching it has ever been documented.

8. Power and Difficulty

Difficulty tier is not an absolute measure of magical strength. Given an equal quantity of mana, whether that mana is concentrated into raw power or distributed across range and duration is determined by the circuit's design — that is, by its tier. Circuits of lower tier tend toward power-concentrated designs, while those of higher tier tend toward versatile, multi-purpose designs; neither orientation holds inherent superiority over the other.

Where a practitioner's total mana capacity is overwhelmingly large, however, even a simple, low-tier circuit may rival or exceed the output of a more sophisticated high-tier circuit. This is because talent (the capacity to handle higher tiers of difficulty) and total mana capacity (the sheer volume of mana one can hold) constitute two entirely independent axes of ability.

9. Modes of Failure

When magic fails to activate fully, or produces an outcome other than intended, the resulting phenomenon falls into one of the following categories.

Type	Description
Unformed	The circuit silently fails to complete due to incomplete understanding. Harmless.
Collapse	Partial failure of the circuit produces a small-scale unintended effect.
Runaway	The circuit stalls and the mana committed to it escapes containment. Hazardous.
Mismatch	The effect produced differs in character from the one intended. Harmless.
Target Loss	Occurs in target-designating magic when the designated target ceases to exist mid-casting. Does not apply to magic designed without an assumption of a persistent target.
Deadlock	Multiple branches of the circuit become entangled, causing mana to circulate indefinitely. Requires forced termination.
Exhaustion	Sustained casting accumulates physical strain until the practitioner is forced to sever the connection.
Interference	Branches presumed independent are found to draw from a shared mana source, producing unexpected instability.
Overflow	A failure arising not from insufficient understanding but from exceeding the practitioner's total mana capacity.

Separate from these failure modes is an advanced technique in which a skilled practitioner reads and interferes with another caster's active circuit — its mental visualization — in real time. This is classified not as a failure mode but as a distinct advanced discipline.

10. Magic Theory

The academic study of mana and magic is organized around two parallel disciplines, Manology and Magic Theory, each divided into theoretical, applied, and engineering branches. Within the engineering branch of Magic Theory, a further distinction exists between the study of apparatus and devices, and the study of imbuing objects with magical properties.